This week is the KTUH radiothon fund drive. KTUH is a non-commercial, non-profit radio station run by live, volunteer DJs 24/7. It's all live programming and no one gets paid to be there. Unlike National Public Radio (NPR) stations, we do not receive any tax dollars. We are entirely funded by university fees and generous donations from our wonderful listeners. Operating a radio station is an extremely costly enterprise and the money we get from the university is barely enough to keep us afloat. Without the support of listener donations we wouldn't be able to do important things like repair and upgrade equipment, pay licensing fees, and renovate our studio. Because we are a part of the University of Hawaii and a non commercial enterprise, we are focused on producing quality programming for the enrichment of the local community, the island of Oahu, the state of Hawaii, and the ENTIRE world. We are a medium to disseminate messages, news, and opinions that would otherwise have no outlet. We play a wide variety of music that can't be heard anywhere else, especially not on commercial radio. We're not driven toward pleasing advertisers or trying to be profitable. Our only goal is to please our listening audience because our radio station is staffed by knowledgeable DJs who are volunteering their time because of their love of and dedication to the music that they play.
Our goal for radiothon this year is to earn enough money to purchase the equipment and permits to build a new tower in a new location on the top of Mount Tantalus that will benefit the listeners in two ways: a) it will double our wattage output from 3000 watts to 6000 watts, b) it will allow us to unite the Town and Leeward frequencies into one. What this means for the listening audience is a more cohesive listening in a broadened area. While we are currently broadcasting on three FM frequencies, there are many areas on the island where there is spotty or no reception. The location of a new transmitter and the doubled wattage output will blanket the island with a higher quality of sound that will reach into areas where there was spotty or no reception before. Listeners at home, at work, or driving in their cars will then be able to have a much stronger signal and will not have to switch stations from town side to Leeward side. This is going to be great on so many levels! Current fans of KTUH will get better reception and the increased reception will hopefully attract new listeners. New listeners will be exposed to new music and the alternative programming that makes KTUH special. New fans of new music make the world a little more hospitable. Projects like this is why we do radiothons to raise funds and we can't accomplish such feats without donations!
No donation is too big or too small, so if anyone reading this would like to pledge a donation to make KTUH a better place, please go ahead and do so right away! There are people answering the phone from 6AM-Midnight (Hawaii Standard Time) 18-24 March 2012. And if you're calling from outside of Hawaii, don't be afraid to call in at any time because there's always a DJ in the studio, 24/7/365 rain or shine, night or day, holiday or otherwise. The donation hotline is (808) 956-7431 and the DJ line is (808) 956-7261. You can even make a direct contribution online by clicking here.
But wait, there's more! We have more incentives for you to pledge a donation right now. A donation of $50 or more will get you a KTUH t-shirt and we have two versions to chose from in men's or women's sizes S-XL. Additionally, many of the DJs are giving way their own swag to entice your donations such as CDs, t-shirs, personal DJ gigs, and more. Tune-in to the shows to find out what the DJ is giving away or look here. I'm offering a few things that range from tame to crazy. $10 gets you a lock of my mutton chops. $20 gets you a mix CD of songs that I play on the show (it'll be hand made and one of a kind, but nothing fancy), for $100 I'll pose in a custom photograph wearing whatever the person donating the money wants to see me wearing (as long as I don't have to pay for it ;p), for a donation of $500 or more I'll film myself shaving off all the hair from my head and face and post it on youtube, and for $1111.11 I'll walk across the entire campus of University of Hawaii of Manoa wearing nothing but a g-string with KTUH stickers on my nipples (the press will be alerted for this if it happens). I am fully dedicated to the cause!
I'll be broadcasting my show, Post Nothing, Tuesday night from 9PM-Midnight (Hawaii Standard Time; GMG -10:00) so please tune in and give a donation of any amount. If you do I'll write you a personal letter of thanks and enclose a KTUH bumper sticker. Remember, you can listen anywhere in the world on our live stream at www.ktuh.org (listener donations also help us keep our website and live stream up), so please do so! If you donate, let me know and I'll give you a shout out live on the air.
Remember, all donations are tax deductible (for US residents)! If you make your own donation online without calling in, make sure you let us know so we can get some swag to you (t-shirts, etc).
MAHALO NUI LOA FOR YOUR KOKUA!
No comments:
Post a Comment